Crack the Easter 2025 opportunity.
Booker unveils new delivery app for retailers. Selling vapes responsibly.
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TIME TO SPRINGinto action!
With the spring months upon us, there’s a host of fresh opportunities to help you drive footfall, sales and profits.
The days are beginning to lengthen and, with a bit of luck, the temperatures will soon begin to rise – which is always a great sign for retailers.
With the spring months now upon us, there’s a host of new opportunities for you to capitalise on and we’ll be highlighting just some of them in this issue. An exciting new development is the soft launch of Booker’s new low-cost delivery app. Scoot is being trialled for the first time in Budgens Arbridge and is backed by a full support package and marketing programme. I look forward to watching how it develops and grows over time.
which is always a great chance for retailers to grow footfall and sales. As always, Budgens has a fantastic range and promotional package in place to help you make the most of this key seasonal opportunity.
With vaping legislation set to change in the near future, we have provided ACS Approved Guidance on how to maximise sales in this important category while also ensuring that you are selling vaping products responsibly, in every sense.
As always, there’s a couple of really interesting store profiles for you to check out and hopefully pick up one or two ideas that you can implement in your own store. And, as ever, you’ll find the usual mix of news, views, advice and ideas to help make the most of the next couple of months and beyond.
I wish you the very best of trading.
Another clear opportunity on the horizon is Easter,
Industry News
Budgens retailers will soon have access to Scoot – the new rapid delivery ordering platform which can help them deliver local groceries within 30 minutes.
Booker unveils delivery
app for symbol retailers
The platform will then be phased out more widely to Booker symbol group retailers across Budgens, Premier, Londis and Family Shopper from April 2025.
The low-cost ordering platform builds on Booker’s commitment to support independent retailers in growing their business.
Offering the convenience of home delivery allows these retailers to reach new customers within their local community and help them increase sales opportunities.
Retailers also benefit from being able to set their own delivery, service and minimum order charges, which can vary dependent on location.
Retailers who sign up to Scoot will receive a launch support package worth over £2,800 – including POS, digital assets and thermal delivery bags.
Highlights
Fully flexible model.
Make an estimated £34,000 additional profit per year.
Only 1% commission charged up to £5,000 of weekly sales.
Zero commission once you reach £5,000 of weekly sakes on the app.
The new ordering platform will connect shoppers with participating stores, enabling them to order from a range of products, curated by the retailer.
Scoot facilitates the ordering, payment, and picking processes, leaving retailers to organise the delivery, which they can handle in-house or via a third party.
Scoot is currently piloting in Budgens Abridge, with a further three stores due to be piloted in March.
All stores can take advantage of upweighted marketing support including targeted social media adverts, and a contribution towards a full promotional wrap for their delivery vehicle.
Colm Johnson, Managing Director for Booker Retail, said: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to help our customers grow their business, so we are incredibly proud to announce the launch of our new delivery platform, Scoot, to support them in doing just that.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our retailers to increase their basket spend, store sales, and connect with new and existing shoppers in their local communities. The feedback from our pilot test has been really positive and we look forward to welcoming more retailers to the platform over the next few months.”
Goran Raven, Director for Budgens Abridge, said: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Booker who are enabling me to offer a new service. It is not only appealing to my existing customer base, but it will also help me recruit new customers. This is a fantastic opportunity and a big win for me.”
BOOST YOUR EASTER SALES WITH THE
NO.1 SPARKLING BRAND IN SYMBOLS AND INDEPENDENTS
Industry welcomes Crime and Policing Bill
The Crime and Policing Bill was laid in Parliament on 25 February.
The retail industry has given a warm welcome to the Crime and Policing Bill, which sets out a wide range of measures aimed at empowering police forces and tackling crimes like shop theft and antisocial behaviour.
The Bill, which was laid in Parliament on 25 February, is set to be backed up by the recruitment of 13,000 additional police officers.
It will also make assault against shopworkers a standalone crime in England and Wales, (as is already the case in Scotland) and scrap the £200 shoplifting threshold.
Other measures outlined in the Bill include:
l Police will no longer need to apply for a warrant to search a premises where stolen goods have been electronically located.
l Increased powers to crack down on repeat antisocial behaviour offenders, with new Respect Orders banning those prolific offenders from town centres.
l Expanding police powers to drug test more suspects on arrest, helping direct more drug users into treatment and away from illegal drugs.
l Creating a new criminal offence of possessing a bladed article with the intent to cause harm.
In the year ending September 2024, police recorded one million incidents of antisocial behaviour. In the same period, they recorded more than 490,000 shop theft offences, an increase of 23% over the previous 12-month period.
Welcoming the introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman said: “We hope it will send a clear message that shop theft and assaults on retailers will be taken seriously by both the police and the justice system.
“People running and working in shops deserve to be treated with respect, and we believe this Bill takes important steps toward that goal.”
Record-breaking mystery shopper results for lottery retailers
The
number of retailers correctly asking for ID as proof of age for lottery sales is at its highest level since National Lottery mystery shopping visits started over two decades ago.
Allwyn organised more than 8,200 mystery shopper visits over 2024 as part of its new Operation Guardian programme.
The final results show that a record-breaking 92.3% of National Lottery retailers correctly asked players who appeared under the age of 18 for ID as proof of age on their first visit.
Allwyn also carried out 4,000 ‘excessive play’ visits to ensure stores could provide support information to players requesting help with their play if needed.
This also incorporated a smaller-scale mystery shop exercise for the new 10-scratchcard per purchase limit towards the end of the year.
The final part of Operation Guardian, a ‘knowledge check,’ encompassed 4,000 visits to assess store staff’s knowledge around preventing underage play and minimising excessive play.
Retailers were tested using six core questions, with 85% having answered five or more correctly.
Any retailer not passing one of the three parts of Operation Guardian received additional training from Allwyn.
Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford, congratulated retailers for their commitment to selling The National Lottery responsibly.
Breakfast costs on the rise
The cost of a home-prepared breakfast rose in February, with butter, cheese, eggs, bread and cereals all experiencing price hikes, latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows.
Food inflation increased to 2.1% year on year in February, against growth of 1.6% in January.
Fresh food inflation also increased to 1.5% year on year in February, while ambient food inflation increased to 2.8% year on year in February.
Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, said: “While shop prices remained in deflation in February, prices on the month saw the biggest increase in the last year.Climbing global coffee prices could push morning costs higher in the coming months.”
PayPoint retailers to distribute emergency fuel vouchers
A partnership between PayPoint and Fuel Bank Foundation means people facing fuel poverty can turn to local retailers to redeem emergency energy top-up vouchers.
Those who receive Fuel Bank energy vouchers can redeem their pre-paid top-up vouchers for energy meters in any PayPoint store, to get their heat, light and power back on.
Around six million UK households are currently living in fuel poverty, and the charity anticipates demand for support to be greater than ever this year.
Matthew Cole, CEO of Fuel Bank Foundation, said: “Over the next few months, we estimate that more than a quarter of a million people will turn to Fuel Bank Foundation for emergency help.”
InPost unveils label-free parcel delivery service
InPost Group has launched label-free delivery service Send.
Shoppers can use InPost’s new Send service to post parcels from one InPost Locker to another, an out-of-home point such as a Pick Up and Drop Off location, or directly to their chosen home address.
Accessible through the InPost app, Send can process small, medium and large parcels up to 15kg.
The launch follows InPost’s commitment to invest £600m in its UK operations by 2029, following its exponential growth in the UK where it delivered 93.2 million parcels in 2024, double the volume from 2023.
Neil Kuschel, CEO of InPost UK, said: “Send marks a pivotal moment for both InPost and the wider UK postal market, bringing the parcel experience up to date with consumers’ lifestyles.
“We are proud to introduce this new service that directly meets those needs and drives increased competition in the industry.”
PayPoint boosts accessibility with translated training guides
Online training guides from PayPoint have been translated into Urdu, Indian Punjabi and Sinhalese to help retailers who don’t speak English as a first language.
PayPoint made the move following feedback from retail partners and the translated guides are now available to download online for the PayPoint Mini and Connect. Retailers will also be sent emails with the resources on launch.
Antony Sappor, Retail Proposition & Partnerships Director, PayPoint, said: “By providing key materials in a wider array of translations, we hope that more of our retailer partners can take advantage of the tools on offer to help their businesses thrive, delivering the best possible service to their local communities.”
Budgens Holt steps up for charity
Charity-minded employees from Budgens Holt put their best feet forward with a gruelling sponsored walk.
Team members from Budgens of Holt in Norfolk have raised hundreds of pounds in aid of the store’s chosen charity for 2024/25, Bowel Cancer UK.
The store’s team of charity walkers took part in an 18-mile sponsored hike along the Norfolk coast from Sheringham to Wells.
The hardy heroes crossed beaches, marshes, fields and roads – battling cold, wind and rain – all the while carrying their fundraising buckets.
Local shoppers were also able to sponsor members online and place donations in buckets at the store.
Off to a cracking start
Budgens retailers across the country are already tucking in to cracking Easter sales as shoppers treat themselves to great value impulse items in the lead up to the four-day weekend on 18 April.
Stores are turning heads with striking in-store displays and deals across a range of Easter products, including shell eggs, bagged confectionery, impulse self-treats and more.
GroceryAid Day 2025 is almost here!
GroceryAid Day 2025 is set to take place on Thursday 8 May and is the perfect opportunity to let your team know about the free, confidential support that is always available.
It’s not long now until GroceryAid Day 2025, the annual opportunity for you to help elevate the awareness of our industry charity in stores across the UK.
Thursday 8 May will see this year’s annual GroceryAid Day take place, offering you the chance to join hundreds of retailers in letting your team know about the charity’s free and confidential financial, emotional and practical services that are available to them 24/7, 365 days a year.
Did you know that colleagues can access GroceryAid’s services and support from the very first day of their employment? And after just six months of continuous employment, if they have experienced a drop in income, they may be eligible for a non-repayable financial grant.
If you or any of your team need immediate emotional support, you can call GroceryAid’s FREE and confidential Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 08088 021122. Calls will be answered by a trained counsellor who can either give immediate support or signpost callers to another GroceryAid service that may help. More than 200 languages are also supported through the Helpline, on request.
Support and further advice are also available through the website, groceryaid.org.uk/get-help. The website has an accessibility toolbar which translates the content into more than 100 different languages, as well as text to speech in 60 languages.
GroceryAid Day 8 May 2025
ORDER YOUR FREE GROCERYAID COMMS KIT
Retailers can order their free GroceryAid communications package quickly and easily by visiting groceryaid.org.uk.
The pack contains everything you need for GroceryAid Day from posters and leaflets to wallet cards and stickers.
There’s everything you need to make all of your colleagues aware of the free and confidential financial, practical and emotional support that is available to them, should they ever need it.
All of GroceryAid’s services are completely free and confidential and they do not disclose any details back to the charity. This emotional and practical support is also available to spouses, partners and dependants.
GroceryAid Day is a great way to help you ensure that your colleagues can reach out to GroceryAid for support.
To find out more visit groceryaid.org.uk
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The snowball effect
Budgens Sheringham is anticipating especially hot sales this summer and beyond, thanks to its recent store development which ended up much bigger than it began!
The snowball effect: we’ve all experienced it. One job leads to another and, before you know it, what started out as a relatively modest project has snowballed into a much bigger beast. One man who is all too familiar with the snowball effect is Ben Lawrence – director of the century-old Lawrences Garages London (LGL) group, which currently operates two Norfolk-based forecourt sites with Budgens stores – and leases out a number of others.
One autumn day in 2023, Ben and his team sat down to discuss the fitting of a new floor in their Sheringham Budgens store.
Located on the cusp of the village, less than half a mile from the coast and just five miles from the tourist hotspot of Cromer, the store is a magnet for holidaymakers in the summer months, but it also plays an essential role to the local community all year round thanks to its wide range of products, services and support.
“It all started with the floor,” Ben laughs. “We’d had the site for around 25 years, the last 10 of which have been with Budgens, and the floor was starting to look quite tired and in need of repair in certain areas.
“The start of the year tends to be a quieter trading time for us, so we started out with a plan to replace the floor in January 2024.”
However, it wasn’t long before the mission started to creep.
“We started to say things like: ‘While we’re at it, we could do with a couple more fridges.’ This led to thoughts like: ‘Oh, but then the new fridges won’t match the existing ones, so maybe we should just update them all?’
“So then we settled on a plan to also fit new integral Pastorfrigor fridges.”
However, integral fridges pump warm air into a store, as Ben explains: “They are great in the winter because they generate welcome heat, but in the summer, you need to cool the store down.”
It was then agreed that the store needed new air conditioning, which then snowballed into a decision to replace the ceilings as well.
“We were talking to Budgens at the same time who also suggested that it might be a good opportunity to increase the shelving in some categories, such as produce and confectionery,” Ben says.
“This in turn, enabled us to increase the range and bring in more fresh produce and key US confectionery lines.”
Ben and the team also decided to expand the store’s freezer space by a third, allowing it to bring in a wider range of frozen choice and more Jack’s products.
“In just five days we’ve managed to transform this store into one that will better serve our summer customers, and one that locals will be very proud of too.”
Ben Lawrence
“We also decided to freshen up our four existing Cook-branded freezers with new vinyls and graphics,” Ben says.
Food to go was not left out of the rapidly snowballing development plans, with Ben also deciding to upgrade the store’s popular Costa Coffee machine to the newest version, which offers both hot and iced drinks.
The new backlit category description boards are now offered as an option on the Budgens Customer Journey where they successfully deliver a modern, premium feel.
“We also added an ‘I squeeze’ fresh orange juice machine to the mix,” he adds.
Plans were then made to overhaul the wall behind the tills with a new backlit display for spirits and vape, followed by a refresh of all internal category signage with striking new LED backlit description boards.
The new backlit category boards are now offered as an option on the Budgens Customer Journey where they successfully deliver a modern, premium feel.
The store’s existing Laithwaites wine range was also given greater impact with new LED neon signage.
Changes were not limited to the inside of the store either.
“While all these plans were being made, we also thought, ‘now would be a great time to do new pumps’,” Ben adds.
“Pumps last for about 18 years, so we decided to repump and add an AdBlue tank in too.
“The plans really did snowball but what I’m most proud of is that once they were made, they only took five days to implement!”
Work started on 13 January, with the whole project completed – floor and all – by the 18th.
“We worked in the store for a solid 24 hours on the day before we planned to re-open,” Ben recalls with a yawn. “We got there at 7am and worked through the night, getting all the new stock out and updating our electronic shelf edge labels.
“We had something like 17 cages of stock and a whole pallet of US candy to put out. It was quite a job, but the team spirit was fantastic. It really was all in the planning!
Reactions to the store’s new look and expanded range have been equally fantastic.
“Shoppers love everything about it. The whole store has been lifted. There’s a much more premium look and feel about it
now and the range updates have been incredibly well received,” says Ben.
“Our enhanced fruit and vegetable section allows shoppers to purchase everything they need for evening meal solutions and more. It’s also the perfect accompaniment to our wider chilled offer, which includes a number of local meat lines.”
The store stocks a marvellous mix of products from local suppliers, in addition to its Budgens range, including local chocolates, seasonal fruit and vegetables, juices, ales, eggs, and goods from Hill Farm Meats.
And what of the floor, that started it all? “It’s been replaced with new Gerflor flooring which looks so much smarter than what we had before but crucially, is also very hard wearing,” Ben explains.
“In just five days we’ve managed to transform this store into one that will better serve our summer customers, and one that locals will be very proud of too.”
FACTFILE
Store name: Budgens Sheringham
Company: Lawrences Garages London
Director: Ben Lawrence
Size: 1,500
Key categories: Soft drinks, BWS, fresh, chilled, frozen
Opening hours: Mon-Sun 6.30am-10pm
Services: fuel, AdBlue, car wash, Amazon Locker, InPost, Revolution laundromat
Great expectations
Shoppers in the Oxfordshire market town of Wantage want for nothing at their spectacular new store.
Wantage is no stranger to greatness. For one thing, the bustling Oxfordshire market town is the birthplace of none other than King Alfred the Great himself.
And now, thanks to a transformative development of the town’s old Mellor’s Garage into a 3,200sq ft Budgens forecourt store, great things are once again at work in Wantage.
Acquired by the Krisco Services Group (KSG) in May 2024, the site featured a 600sq forecourt store, a car servicing centre and fuel.
However, as general manager Luxman Selvarajah explains, the well-connected site just 17 miles from Oxford was destined for even greater things.
SHOP SALES HAVE EXCEEDED £30,000 A WEEK AND ARE GROWING, WITH FOOD-TOGO SALES ALONE ACCOUNTING FOR MORE THAN £4,000 A WEEK.
FACTFILE
Store name: Budgens Wantage
Retailer: Luxman Selvarajah
Store size: 3,200sq ft
Staff: 10
“We could see so much potential in this site,” Luxman says. “The forecourt was already serving a busy community, and the expansion of local housing developments was promising even greater footfall.
“The forecourt was trading limited hours and the store itself was only 600sq ft. We knew that changing the trading hours to 24/7 and extending the store would bring in so much more.”
Work to fulfil the site’s promise began almost immediately, with the old shop razed to the ground, to make way for a remarkable new 3,200 sq ft convenience store that would create a “one-stop-shop” for the local community.
And that’s precisely what they’ve done.
Opening hours: 24 hours Retailer Profile: Budgens
Services: Payzone, Post Office Drop and Collect, laundrette, jetwash, Lottery
Following a £1.5m investment, the spectacular new Budgens store opened its doors on 17 January 2025.
Wide entry doors welcome shoppers into a large, light and airy space, bursting with choice and inspiration.
Appetising aromas from the store’s striking open-plan kitchen drift across the floor, tempting shoppers to treat themselves to freshly baked pastries, quality coffees or freshly squeezed orange juice.
The Stone Willy’s Kitchen offer has something for everyone, from breakfast wraps to pizza slices, hash browns and more.
Shoppers can also pick up a freshly toasted panini, or a Rollover hotdog.
NEW ANTHONYJOSHUAeditionmangopeachade peachade
“We have shoppers who stop in for a quick food and drink to go solution, but also those who are doing their weekly grocery shops!”
Luxman Selvarajah
Those after a chilled choice can also browse the store’s large range of sandwiches or take advantage of the Budgens’ £5 Sandwich Meal Deal.
A selection of hot and cold self-serve drinks is also on offer, including Costa Coffee, and fresh orange juice from Isqueeze.
The shopfloor, meanwhile, boasts a refreshing six-metres of soft drink choice.
Shoppers who need their drinks and snacks in a rush can skip the queues by using the food-to-go zone’s own selfcheckout.
Those on a meal for later mission can also take their pick from a vast range of products and solutions from the store’s 15-metre fresh and chilled range that caters to every need
and budget. Shoppers can bag a great-value Jack’s Chicken Tikka Masala or shell out a bit more for “restaurant quality” curry from the store’s Praveen Kumar chef range.
Other premium frozen meal solutions can also be found in the store’s dedicated Cook and Fieldfare freezers.
Complementing these premium picks is a dedicated Laithwaites wine zone close to the store’s beer cave, branded up as ‘The Cellar.’
Inside The Cellar, shoppers can discover a wide range of quality products from big brands, many of which are supported by Budgens’ outstanding promotional offer.
The Cellar also features a clever AI-powered age verification camera, which grants entry to shoppers it deems to be over
25 and denies access to anyone it judges to be under.
Store staff are readily on hand to check ID and admit shoppers who are of legal age.
The large store also features a comprehensive grocery offer including world foods, home-baking solutions, and cakes and biscuits galore.
There’s also a dedicated Euroshopper bay offering seven shelves of outstanding value – including 80 teabags for just £1.09.
And it’s not just the store that’s big – out on the forecourt itself the canopy height has been raised to five metres, making it accessible to a wide range of vehicles, including HGVs.
Additional parking has also been created for ‘store-only’ shoppers – helping to keep the fuel stations free for those who need them.
The site also features a number of convenient services including a jetwash, a laundrette and Post Office Drop and Collect services, all of which have been “very well received and used” since launch.
“The store has been received very positively as it’s a new addition to the area with so much to offer,” Luxman says.
“Thanks to the store’s wide range of products, we are attracting shoppers from other surrounding towns and not just Wantage.
“The store’s 24/7 opening is also receiving great feedback from the many nightshift workers employed at the nearby trading estate, who can now top up on food and fuel around the clock.
“We have shoppers who stop in for a quick food and drink to go solution, but also those who are doing their weekly grocery shops!”
At the time of going to press, brand new Budgens Wantage had only been open a matter of weeks, yet despite its infancy and local flooding challenges, shop sales had already exceeded £30,000 a week – with food-to-go sales alone accounting for more than £4,000 a week and growing. At this rate, it won’t be long before the store hits it’s target of £50,000 a week.
“We wanted to be a one-stop-shop for the community, and we certainly feel that we have achieved that,” Luxman adds. We’d have to agree!
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How to crack Easter
Budgens is helping retailers to make the most of the egg-stremely valuable Easter opportunity.
GROUP EXCLUSIVES!
MALTESERS POPCORN MINI BUNNIES BAGS
Case
24x58g
CADBURY MARVELLOUS CREATIONS JELLY POPPING CANDY EGG
Case size: 6x202g
Promotional WSP: £19.39
Promotional RSP: £5 POR: 22.4%
TERRY’S CHOCOLATE ORANGE EXPLODING CANDY XL EGG
Case size: 6X297g
Promotional WSP: £25.95 RSP: £6.49
As one of the biggest seasonal opportunities of the year, Easter has always helped retailers add some muchappreciated bounce to their sales.
Easter 2024 certainly proved no exception to the rulewith value and unit growth outperforming total FMCG and confectionery trends at 13.5% and 2.4% respectively during the season.
20.0%
There was also a 14% increase in trip spend and a 6% rise in trips compared to the rest of the year, according to Kantar data for the 13 weeks to 31 March 24.
KIT KAT CHUNKY BISCOFF GIANT EGG
Case size: 4x233g
Promotional WSP: £16.19
With figures like that, it’s little surprise that retailers across the country will be hoping for an equally, if not even better, performance in 2025.
Promotional RSP: £6.49
POR: 25.2%
The fact that Easter 2025 is late this year - a full three weeks later than 2024 to be precise - will certainly set them up to do just that.
Easter Sunday falls on 20 April this year – giving retailers a long and opportunity rich lead up in which to focus on driving that all important excitement, footfall and sales.
Fortunately, Budgens is here to help, with an egg-cellent range, attention-grabbing promotions and showstopping POS packages to support them in doing just that!
New products remain a powerful way to drive growth within the Easter season and Budgens has certainly delivered this year, with a raft of new products and Group Exclusives designed to help sales bloom.
New for 2025 and available to Budgens retailers now are KitKat Mini Eggs pouches which offer a maxi-sized minimum POR of 43.3%.
Perfect for scattering in hunts, stirring into bakes or just scoffing alone, mini-sized eggs are one of the fastest growing segments of the Easter market at the moment.
Other new mini-sized egg launches include Crispy M&Ms Choco Eggs - available now in packs of 72g with an RSP of £1.69 and a POR of 20.1%
And who could forget the Terry’s Chocolate Orange Filled Egg? This sure-fire Easter hit boasts an RSP of 99p and a
The three phases of Easter
Mondelez International recommends that retailers split Easter into three phases:
l Getting off to a fast start (January to Valentine’s Day).
l Building momentum (from Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day)
l Gearing up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks as the period reaches its finale.
Perfect POS
Budgens retailers can add some bounce to their Easter displays with an array of engaging POS materials featuring colourful eggs and bunnies.
The cheery bundle includes posters, shelf edge strips, barker ears and window stickers.
For more details, speak to your Budgens RDM.
juicy POR of 39.9%.
In addition to new products, the return of old and muchloved favourites, such as the Malteser Bunny and the classic Cadbury Creme Egg, will also help retailers to get those allimportant Easter sales clucking.
Small, self-treat and novelty items such as these are perfect for driving unplanned impulse purchases throughout the season, especially when backed with unmissable multi-buy deals.
As the end of the Easter season approaches, the gifting trend comes into its own, prompting shell egg sales to shine.
As such, Cadbury advises retailers to gear up for a ‘gifting finish’ for the last three weeks before Easter Sunday by ensuring that they are offering a wide range of shell eggs in small, medium, large and giant sizes – as-well as other gifting formats.
This Easter, Budgens retailers will be able to offer their shoppers unbeatable value for easter, with an array of round pound deals on shell eggs and boxed chocolates from bestselling brands for only £2, £3, £4 and £5.
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get cracking!
Products to be proud of
Help shoppers save time and money with simple and delicious meal solutions from the great quality and value Jack’s and Euro Shopper brands.
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
THE COST-OFLIVING CRISIS HAS MADE
68% OF SHOPPERS PURCHASE MORE OWN LABEL RANGES AT CONVENIENCE STORES.
With the cost-of-living crisis still squeezing shoppers’ finances, the need for stores to offer their shoppers trusted, value for money solutions really has never been so important.
And it’s especially important for busy families with lots of mouths to feed. These shoppers are on the lookout for quick, simple, crowd-pleasing meal solutions that won’t break the bank and taste great too.
Fortunately, Booker’s exclusive own label Jack’s brand is here to help, with a vast range of quality price marked products available across all the key convenience sectors; including fresh, chilled, grocery, frozen and more.
This vast range of choice means that shoppers have everything at hand to cook up quick, simple and tasty meals in minutes.
Why not check out our four Simple Recipe Ideas for your shoppers below? All four family favourites use products from the Jack’s and Euro Shopper brands - with each delivering a pocket-friendly cost per serving of less than £3.
And the best bit - all Jack’s products deliver meaty margins for retailers. In-fact, all four of the simple recipe ideas listed below offer PORs of 25% and up, with most delivering more than 30%.
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
61% OF ITEMS TYPICALLY BOUGHT FROM CONVENIENCE STORES ARE FOOD ITEMS FOR HOME.
SIMPLE RECIPE IDEAS ROAST CHICKEN DINNER
CMA Pricing Practices Update
The Competition and Markets Authority recently completed an investigation into pricing practices and has issued official correspondence to independent retailers.
You may have seen recent press coverage about consumer pricing in symbol and convenience stores. This is a result of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) working alongside Trading Standards.
The CMA found a number of examples of poor and misleading pricing in some symbol/convenience stores. No stores were named but the CMA is clearly concerned and are expecting Trading Standards to take particular interest in the way pricing is displayed and communicated to shoppers.
We need to let you know about this because the CMA have the power to issue fines and in the worst cases bring criminal prosecutions.
Trading Standards also has wide ranging powers to issue fines. We very much want you as our retailers to be up to
speed and not accidentally running into problems like that.
We would please request that you, as the business owner, read the guidance on the following pages.
It is really important that you ensure that all of your staff and colleagues in your business also see it, read it and understand it and that new staff are fully trained. It’s very likely that the CMA will come back to this subject in a few months to see if things have improved.
Part of the strength of the Budgens brand is the great standard of in-store operations by retailers.
We thank you for reading this and taking action where it might be needed.
You must clearly display the total selling price in writing. It should be obvious to your customers what the price is, without them having to get help from a member of staff. Prices should: be clearly displayed; be easy to read; be close to the relevant product; and match what the customer is charged at the till.
Do
Do
NEW ICE KICK
TRIPLE ACTION
INCHS CLOUDY APPLE CIDER
HOVIS FARMHOUSE BATCH
Selling vapes responsibly
It is clearly vital that all Budgens retailers sell vapes responsibly – and here we present the latest advice from ACS on how to do just that.
Sitting at the very heart of the communities they serve, it’s obviously extremely important that Budgens retailers take care of their customers and their communities by selling vapes responsibly.
Vaping has become a large and important category for many Budgens retailers in recent years, but it can also be a challenging one and the landscape is set to change dramatically on 1st June this year when the disposable vaping ban comes into force.
More formally known as the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024, the ban will come into force across the country as both the Scottish and Welsh devolved governments have agreed to outlaw disposable vapes on the same day.
To help you navigate the way forward and ensure that you and your team and selling vapes responsibly, we present here the latest Assured Advice from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).
1 Sourcing
All vaping products that you buy from Booker are fully compliant with all legal requirements. If, however, you source vaping products from elsewhere, it is vital that you check that they are legally allowed to be sold in the UK.
All products for sale in the UK must be listed with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
To find out whether products can be sold in the UK, visit cms. mhra.gov.uk/ecig-new to check the MHRA Notified Products
list. If a product you are considering selling is not on this list, it is illegal to sell it in your store.
2 Disposables Ban
From 1st June 2025 it will be illegal for retailers to sell, offer to sell or have in their possession for sale disposable vaping products in their shop or on their website.
SELL THROUGH BY 1ST JUNE
Retailers should sell through all existing disposable vaping products before 1st June to avoid commercial loss and enforcement action. It is an offence to have disposable vaping products in your possession for sale. Any leftover disposable vaping products from 1st June must be:
l Stored in stock rooms or back offices, away from the shopfloor, and
l Clearly separated from other goods and clearly labelled as not for sale.
WHAT CAN BE SOLD FROM 1ST JUNE?
From 1st June 2025 all vaping products you sell, offer to sell or have in your possession for sale must have the following features:
Must be refillable
l A container that is refillable, or
l A container that is separately available and can be replaced, such as a pod system, by a user in the product’s normal course of use.
Must be rechargeable
l Contains a battery that can be recharged, and
l A replacement coil or a coil which is contained in a single use cartridge or pod which is separately available after purchase and can be replaced in the product’s normal course of use.
ENFORCEMENT AND RECORD KEEPING
In the event of an enforcement visit or inspection you must prove that you took ‘all reasonable steps’ and exercised ‘all due diligence’ to avoid committing an offence. Steps you can take to demonstrate this include:
l Keep records of the vape suppliers you work with and their awareness of the regulations, for example a statement on their website.
l Keep records of the stock you have received from suppliers. Examples of good documentation include invoices and receipts of purchases.
l If requested, provide all records of vape suppliers you work with and stock you hold to Trading Standards.
PENALTIES
A person found to be selling disposable vapes from 1st June 2025 is liable on summary conviction to a fine. There are a range of notices Trading Standards can issue in the event of non-compliance:
l Fixed Monetary Penalty: Trading Standards can issue a notice of intent to serve a £200 Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP) if a business is found to be non-compliant with the law, reducing to £100 if paid within 28 days of the penalty being served.
l Stop Notices: If a business continues to engage in illicit activity, Trading Standards can issue a stop notice prohibiting a business from carrying on an activity specified in the notice, such as selling all vaping products, until the business has fulfilled the notice requirements.
l In Wales and Scotland, retailers can receive up to a level five fine and be imprisoned for up to two years.
CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS
ACS has produced a poster for retailers to display in-store to help communicate the disposable vapes ban to customers. Visit acs.org. uk/advice/selling-vapes to download your copy.
3 How to
legitimaterecognise products
There are strict requirements for vapes that are allowed to be placed on the UK market. Check the following to ensure the products you stock are legitimate:
l Disposable vapes are not allowed to be sold from 1st June 2025.
l The maximum size of refill containers is 10ml.
l The maximum nicotine content allowed for vapes is 20mg/ml.
l Health warnings must cover 30% of the front and back of the pack. The health warning must read: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS NICOTINE WHICH IS A HIGHLY ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCE.
l A list of ingredients must be included.
l The product must indicate the nicotine content and delivery per dose.
l A batch number must be included.
l Products must feature a recommendation to keep the product out of the reach of children.
l Offers and discounts, as well as product safety/health claims, are prohibited on packs.
l Packaging must also contain the manufacturer or importer name and contact details.
l All vapes and refill containers must be tamper-evident and have child-resistant packaging.
4 underagePreventingsales
It is illegal to sell vaping products to anyone under 18. Anyone doing so is committing an offence, and both the business owner and staff members who made the sale can be penalised.
ACS recommends the use of Challenge 25 policies for all underage sales.
ONLINE SALES
For retailers that sell vapes online through a delivery service or online ordering platform, ACS recommends conducting ID checks before any goods are delivered to a customer. More information about selling age-restricted products online is
available in the ACS Assured Advice guide on Preventing Underage Sales, available from the acs.org.uk website.
5 Proxy sales
It is an offence for an adult to purchase nicotine inhaling products on behalf of someone under age. This is commonly called a ‘proxy sale’. You should consider adopting a common approach to identifying and preventing proxy sales across all age-restricted products.
It can be very difficult to know if an adult intends to buy an age-restricted product for or on behalf of someone who is under age. Therefore, you are only expected to act when an obvious proxy sale is taking place. More information on common scenarios that retailers may encounter when dealing with attempted proxy sales is available in the ACS Assured Advice guide on Preventing Underage Sales.
To mitigate proxy purchasing, some manufacturers might enforce product quantity limits that restrict bulk orders that may be distributed to those under age. Check and comply with manufacturer product quantity limits if they have such policies in place.
6 Advertising
Vapes and refill containers cannot be advertised or promoted, directly or indirectly on television or radio, commercial email, in magazines or newspapers, or online, including on social media (except where the media in question is trade facing only, for example trade press titles distributed to retailers).
This includes posts made by the retailer themselves and posts that are sponsored or promoted by a manufacturer. Retailers selling or including product information about vapes on their websites are permitted to do so, as long as the information included about the product only contains factual claims such as ingredients, nicotine content and descriptions of product components. Visit asa.org.uk/resource/electronic-cigaretteadvertising-prohibition.html for more detailed advertising guidance.
7 Vape recycling
Vapes are no longer part of the Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS). As a result, all retailers selling vapes must offer their customers a recycling bin for vaping products.
IN-STORE INFORMATION
You must make information available to customers in your stores about the vape collection service you offer and how it can be used.
ACS has produced a vape-specific template poster that you can download from tinyurl.com/bdfke2zy and use in-store.
IN-STORE TAKEBACK
You must offer to take back vapes that offer the same functions of the vapes that you sell in your store. The type of vape is determined by functionality not brand.
If you sell only one brand of vapes then it follows that you will have to accept returns of all types of vapes.
Under the WEEE regulations, the return of vapes to stores happens on a “one for one” basis. This means that you only have to take back vapes in your recycling bin when a customer is buying an equivalent vape in your store.
You cannot charge customers for taking back their vapes. The service must be free of charge.
ILLICIT VAPES
If a customer tries to return an illicit vape to your store you can refuse to accept it.
The WEEE regulations state that electrical equipment returned must be an equivalent type and fulfil the same function as the supplied equipment (WEEE Regulations 2013 42.1).
Illicit vapes are not equivalent to the vapes you will sell and therefore should not be accepted in your recycling collection points.
STORING VAPES
Vapes should be stored in a separate container in a cool, dry place away from windows and direct sunlight, and away from other electrical and electronic equipment you store for takeback.
You can only store the used vapes temporarily, generally no longer than three months. There is no regulatory requirement for a specific vape container. Tube containers, widely used for battery collection, can be used for storing vapes, but it is recommended that vapes are stored separately from batteries and other electronic and electrical equipment.
ARRANGING COLLECTION
You must dispose of the vapes you collect in your store properly so they can be recycled. You will have to contact a provider of vape collection services to collect vapes from your store.
You also need to receive and fill in a waste consignment notice which should be provided by your waste collection provider that documents the returned vapes are being taken away to be recycled responsibly.
Booker can help you put a solution in place. Please speak to your RDM for more information.
RECORD KEEPING
You need to record information about the number of vaping units you collect through takeback in-store and the number collected by your vape collection service provider.
You should estimate the number of units returned to your store before they are collected by your vape collection service provider. Vapes can be counted, estimated by weight, or estimated by volume. You do not need to distinguish between different types of vapes, only the total number of units returned to your store and passed on to the vape collection service provider.
You need to keep all documentation you make, or are given by the waste collection provider, when you dispose of electrical and electronic waste.
Visit tinyurl.com/msx2ed48 to find a template for recording the vapes returned to your store.
Records must be kept for a four-year period.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) enforces the collection of vapes and other electrical products. You can be prosecuted and get an unlimited fine if you do not comply with the regulations.
You may get warning letters before enforcement action, fine or prosecutions are undertaken.
You can contact OPSS if you have any questions on compliance or suspected non-compliance via email or their telephone number below.
Email: OPSS.enquiries@beis.gov.uk
Telephone: 0121 345 1201 (Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm)
Offer subject to availability from 1st April to 2nd May 2025.
classic tobacco flavour with TEREA Silver.
This material is restricted to those who are involved in the business of the sale and distribution of tobacco who are aged 18 or over. This material should not be made available to the public or sent to anyone else. IQOS is not risk free and is for adult use only.
Calling time on
crime
As crime figures spike, the introduction of the Crime and Policing Bill is an opportunity to reset the retail crime narrative, says ACS.
There were over 6.2 million incidents of shop theft in the last year, an increase of 600,000
Every year, we release figures on the scale of crime that retailers face, going into detail on areas like shop theft, violence, abuse, fraud, and the difficulties that retailers have when reporting crime to the police.
These figures provide a benchmark for the Government, Police and Crime Commissioners, and local decision makers to understand what needs to be done to make a positive difference in communities.
Our latest Crime Report outlines the most challenging picture that we have ever seen when it comes to retail crime. Over the last year, we estimate that there were over 6.2 million incidents of shop theft, an increase of 600,000 on the previous year, and 10 times the amount of theft offences that end up being recorded by the police.
Other figures provide equally concerning reading – there were 1.2 million incidents of verbal abuse and over 59,000 incidents of violence in 2024, with 44% of these being hatemotivated. While these numbers might be shocking, it is unfortunately a window into the reality that retailers face.
Where in previous years we may have been focused mainly on describing the scale of the problem to Government, we now need to do more. The Crime and Policing Bill, which is
currently moving through Parliament, aims to put in place a series of additional powers and protections to support retailers and their colleagues, and we believe that the introduction of the Bill is a genuine opportunity to reset the narrative on retail crime. We must send a clear message that theft, abuse and violence against shops will not be tolerated, and that prolific offenders will be brought to justice.
Retailers themselves are already starting to fight back. Last year, there were investments of over £265m in crime prevention measures as we saw retailers prioritise investing in technology and equipment such as CCTV that can be remotely monitored and shared with police, and radio headsets that ensure staff connectivity.
We saw retailers train staff on how to use this equipment, and how to react and protect themselves and customers when crimes take place. We also saw retailers invest in systems that made cash handling and dealing with customers safer.
Our Crime Report brings all of this together alongside case studies with retailers outlining strategies that actually work in communities to reduce the impact of crime.
You can read the report and our factsheets on reducing and reporting crime on our website at ACS.org.uk.
James Lowman outlines the key findings of the ACS’ latest Crime Report.
